User blog:ISNorden/Alfaklossar: how to localize those ''other'' blocks for Swedish?
As a Learningblocks fan and a linguist with a degree in Scandinavian studies, I've wondered how to combine the two sometimes. Swedish (like all modern Nordic languages) uses an extended version of the Latin alphabet. Adapting Alphablock canon, then, looked simple on the surface -- until I ran into two kinds of problems. Lost in Translation Direct references to English words and sounds; some words don't contain the right sound to keep their original keywords and personas. For instance -- * Outright puns on the name of a letter (as opposed to its sound) should usually be dropped or changed. Associating the letter I with egotism, J with a type of bird, and R with pirates? To a Swede in förskolan (pre-school, too young for English classes), none of those connections work. The Swedish word for X-rays doesn't contain an X at all; and the British superhero "X" (who inspired his namesake Alphablock) never became popular in Scandinavia. Of all the personalities that play on a letter's name, only T (the most thoroughly English of the bunch) travels well: "T" and te are still homophones in Swedish. * Since English and Swedish are both Germanic languages (with many sounds in common and many direct cognates), several of the official Alphablocks can keep their personas. The sounds f, g, h, l, m, n. p, s, and v are all similar enough to keep the corresponding blocks as-is; on the TV show, those characters often associate their sounds with use outside a word. (Gulping g, out-of-breath h, food-tasting m and so forth still make sense in Sweden.) Even though the sound z isn't used in their language, the letter is still part of the Swedish alphabet -- used mainly in foreign words and names, but also to represent comic-strip snoring. With that in mind, I'd add Alphablock Z to the list of "(almost) unchanged imports". * On the other hand, some Swedish Alphablocks would need new visual gimmicks in spite of the sounds they share with an English counterpart: the word for "drum" doesn't begin with d, and the word for "kick" doesn't begin with k. Alphablock X has this problem on top of the British superhero reference: to a Swede, ks is the sound people make to call over their pet cat (the equivalent of "Here, kitty kitty kitty!"). Auntie X, the Cat Lady, might amuse toddlers' parents but provoke mockery from the toddlers themselves! Sound Check * A few shared letters spell radically different sounds in English and Swedish. This happens mostly to the vowel letters (Swedish has nine of them!), but occasionally to consonants too: even though Swedish W is usually limited to foreign words and names, it typically sounds like English v. Not very much like crying at all...so the W-block in Sweden needs a new visual gimmick. The most familiar one that came to mind would be making him a computer geek with an American accent: kids watch online videos younger and younger now, so they'd spot "WWW" Iin Web addresses and make the connection. What letter, if any, would assume the old crybaby persona? I'd nominate U; uhu is a fairly close equivalent of "boo-hoo". Similar switches could be made for other major pronunciation differences. Category:Blog posts Category:Fan-made localizations